The Mystery of the Byways Murders – Witcher 3 Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a contract side quest in the Witcher 3 for the area of Velen. The guide is composed of a map, map legend, and walkthrough to show readers exactly where to go and what to do to complete the quest.

Map Legend

1 – Oreton
2 – Byways

Background

You’ll receive this quest by reading the “Contract: Missing Soldiers” note on the notice board in Oreton in Velen West (#1).

Walkthrough

To learn more about the contract, you’ll need to talk to Milan Noran at the Nilfgaardian camp in Oreton. Noran will tell you that a patrol recently went missing near Byways to the south, and that since Redanians and robbers don’t hunt there, a monster must have been responsible. So he’ll ask you to investigate the area.

At Byways (#2), you’ll encounter several level 23 ghouls. After defeating them, a few villagers will come out of hiding, and they’ll claim that the ghouls killed the Nilfgaardian patrol. You won’t believe them, so you’ll decide to look around using your witcher senses. You’ll spot two dead animals that were killed by the ghouls, but you’ll also spot two dead soldiers who were killed by something else. After examining the second corpse, you’ll detect the odor of blood, and you’ll decide to follow it.

The scent will lead you to a locked building in the village. When you approach it, a villager named Bytomir will come up to you and finally reveal what happened. He’ll tell you that there are elven ruins beneath the village, and that while looting them, the villagers accidentally woke up a beast of some sort. Then, after they tried to bury it, the Nilfgaardian patrol came through and decided to loot the ruins as well — only their explorations didn’t go very well. Bytomir will then give you the key to the building so you can explore the ruins yourself.

Inside the locked building, you’ll find some fur on the ground. If you examine it, then you’ll earn 25 xp, and you’ll conclude that the beast is an ekimmara, which is a kind of vampire. So it’s a good idea to have some Vampire Oil ready for your silver sword.

Inside the ruins, you’ll find the rest of the Nilfgaardian patrol — all dead — and you’ll also encounter an ekimmara named Sarasti. Sarasti can teleport around a little, but otherwise you’ll just need to dodge around it like most other melee foes. When Sarasti dies, it’ll drop an Ekimmara Trophy, a leveled version of the steel sword Bloed Aedd, and probably a few monster parts.

To complete the quest, you’ll need to return to Bytomir (so you can tell him that the village is now safe) and then Noran (so you can collect your reward). You’ll earn your negotiated fee plus 300 xp.